'I'm both a bishop, but also a survivor': Anglican church leader reveals he was groomed and sexually abused by senior clergymen as a teenager

By Leith Huffadine
Daily Mail
October 26, 2015

http://tinyurl.com/pfgjzpj

Anglican Bishop the Right Reverend Greg Thompson has revealed he was sexually abused by two male members of the Anglican church when he was 19

The Newcastle Anglican Diocese voted on Sunday to make a formal apology about its handling of sexual abuse reports (stock image)

The unprecedented apology has been hailed as a 'watershed' for the church (stock image)

An Anglican bishop has revealed he was victim of sexual abuse at the hands of members of his own church denomination.

The revelations of Newcastle Anglican Bishop Greg Thompson come after a diocese apology for the way the church had treated abuse victims.

Bishop Thompson said as a 19-year-old he was targetted by an Anglican bishop and senior clergyman in the 1970s and later sexually abused, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

On Sunday a formal apology from the Newcastle Diocese was made in which it admitted it actively discouraged those who reported abuse, the ABC reported.

Earlier this year Bishop Thompson also apologised for cover-ups by the church and the manner in which it dealt with child sex abuse reports.

He told the Sydney Morning Herald the bishop and clergyman, now both dead, 'made him feel special' and manipulated his faith to cover for their abuse of him.

Speaking to the ABC, he said he was 'both a bishop, but also a survivor' and that he wanted to make sure sexual abuse survivors knew the church would now listen to them.

The decision by the church to apologise was a 'watershed' and had 'galvanised' it, he said.

Earlier efforts by other members of the church had been undermined, he claimed.

Although his accusations had been explained to authorities earlier in 2015, he had not wanted to reveal them before the diocese made a decision to apologise.

The decision to make the the apology was voted on without any opposition, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Synod members who voted watched video interviews of two New South Wales Anglican priests who both said they had been sexually abused as children.

In the interviews they explained the impact the abuse had on them, including anxiety and depression.

One, Bob Beattie, even said he would have committed suicide if he had been able to access a gun.

Hunter Anglican priest, Reverend Les Forester, who was also featured in one of the interviews, said at the time he thought he would die, the ABC reported.

A change in the culture of the Newcastle Anglican Diocese was needed, he said.